FicWad

Kaitai was a Chinese transfer student who had made quite a few friends due to her skills with computers. Hanatou had spent days listening to her talk about the theoretical of what machines would one day be capable of and argued with her for hours over the ethics of man over machine. She was happily playing an online game when her friend knocked on the door and headed in.

“It’s late for you Hana-san.” She commented not even looking over at him.

Kaitai had lush long black hair and a happy look on her face for most of the time. Her parents were both successful business people so she in turn had been able to choose where life took her. For Kaitai it was into the Pharmaceutics.

“I need your help…” He sat next to her, watching as her on screen avatar took out a multitude of small creatures before she told them she had to go and shut down her game. “I’m sorry to bother you but I have this live feed in my room, I can’t trust anyone else…”

Kaitai listened to his story, from start to finish, even about their hidden relationship, and noted that it was the first time she’d heard Hanatou passionate about anything other than drinking or study. By the time he had finished his tale she was already making a series of notes about how to try and help.

“We might be better off looking at the place he is in to try and locate it rather than try to hack into the line, they might notice if they are able to change things around this quickly.” She stood up and grabbed the notepad. “It sounds like a challenge, let’s go…”

Hanatou stood up and followed her, he pointed to the screen where Takahashi had finally drifted off into a fitful sleep on the strangely put together room. He lit up another cigarette and sat down on the sofa behind her. This was so crazy, this stuff happened in movies not to him and his partner. It was so complicated and all because he had taken that job with Jin. He sighed deeply, that bastard Iwao loved the thrill of exploitation and he didn’t know how to best him.

“We’ll try and find him,” Kaitai looked at him with soft eyes, “if we can work it out maybe we can get the police involved after that.”

“Somehow I suspect the police won’t involve themselves,” he took a deep inhale on the cigarette, “I heard these gangs pay them off and if I got the wrong officer I’d loose him.”

They sat quietly for some time, Kaitai took in the surroundings, making as many notes as she could until she spotted the little prayer on the back of the wall, it as too dark to make it out properly, the kanji had been obscured in the half light they had given the sleeping man. Hanatou watched her engrossed in the screen and stood behind her.

“I can’t make that out,” she looked up at him, “it’s very dark and I don’t know the local area too well. I wonder if we could take the picture to someone that might know better.”

Hanatou looked at it, he leaned over her to see it better, he wasn’t very good with the local area either so in the end he took a screen shot and printed the little piece off. He planned to head into the town and see if one of the locals in a bar would know it, he needed to get working fast because he couldn’t risk anything worse happening to Takahashi.

It took hours of him walking around, it was early morning when he finally sat on the steps of the shrine in town and sighed. He was overly tired, he was scared and then more annoyingly he was out of smokes and had forgotten his wallet.

“That is a face of complete rejection.” A woman looked at him, she wasn’t Asian, she was fluent in the language but he couldn’t make out what country she was from.

“I have a lot on my mind.” Hanatou sighed, he flipped the lighter on and off several times, idling over what to try next. The picture was printed out and in his other hand; he looked at it again and sighed.

“Why are you looking at that?” The woman took it from his hand. “That place hasn’t been open in years, they didn’t have the money for it because the place was so far out of town no-one visited.”

“Where is it?” Hanatou dived up, nearly loosing his footing because of his tiredness. “I need to find it…”

“It’s just out of town, you’d need a cab it’s not somewhere you can walk and,” the woman looked at the sorry state he was in, “you’d probably do better for some sleep too.”

Hanatou bowed, thanking her and taking the instructions about the place. He ended up hugging her too before heading back to the apartment. He wanted Kaitai to check it out, he might be able to get some sleep if he could convince her to keep watch long enough. Kaitai had sat up most of the night watching the young man, her eyes roaming for changes in the area or for someone to walk past by accident.

When her friend came through the door and handed her the notes she had to smile, he had got something she could finally look at. He passed out on the sofa without another word, he had intended to talk, remain awake with her and talk but his body just gave in to the much needed rest.

“Right Taka-san, let’s find out where you are.” Kaitai whispered watching the sleeping form.

It took her some time to work it out, the area was down a small path out of the main city area, it was in an overgrown area of woods, it was riddled with places along it that the gang would be able to use for defence. Kaitai wondered if poor Hanatou had thought that it was going to be easier to arrange a pressure on the people in the small firm they were exploiting, she smiled softly, he could come across at times as very aloof or uncaring but the human moral’s ran very deep in the brown haired student.

The road wasn’t the best to gain entry but pulling up the records of the area she assessed the paths, the layout around the shrine and finally any other options they might have. She was met with some success… if the photographs were right there was an outhouse about a third of a mile away, he could potentially get there and then try to sneak his way inside once she could see more from a camera. It was going to take some effort but that was the kind of challenge she enjoyed.

In the meantime Takahashi sat up on the bed; stretching and then remembering his woes he quickly pulled the sheet around him. Iwao had made the men hold back out of the way of the cameras, if the young man moved out of camera shot it had to be his choice. Takahashi saw the camera’s, then pulled the sheet over his head, covering himself over and starting to shake. He couldn’t remember a thing from the night before.

Kaitai spotted him moving around and watched him as he slid off the bed, looking around himself with a confused expression. Her eyes softened, he was such a sweet young man and she loved listening to him getting all excited about the silliest of things. She found the couple matched well too when she thought about it, they were good friends and they had personalities that differed but worked. Kaitai kept her watch as Hanatou got a few precious hours sleep, but the sleep was interrupted when Iwao called his phone.

“Yes?” Hanatou mumbled as he flipped the phone open.

“The business will be open, why aren’t you working on what I need yet?” Iwao said curtly.

“I fell asleep, I was up all night because some bastard thought it would be funny to kidnap my…”

“Don’t let that mouth get him in trouble.” Iwao snapped the phone shut leaving Hanatou wide awake and even more concerned.

“He’s still safe.” Kaitai looked over at him. “Clean up and get ready. I think I have found him… do you know anyone else that might feel like they can help you as I think you need some brute force…”

“I…” Hanatou stumbled to the kitchen, put the coffee maker on and then went to the bathroom, as he was showering he ran through the various people he knew. His head rest on the wall, hot water fell over his skin and he closed his eyes, this was just not happening, couldn’t be happening and sickeningly was happening. “Fuck…” He hit the shower wall with his fist and sighed.

Kaitai let him stay there for a while before knocking and telling him she needed to get a shower herself. Takahashi seemed safe enough so it was best they try and act before Iwao got too suspicious, Hanatou mumbled a response and then when they met again half an hour later he seemed far more awake, they made a decision that Hanatou would talk to a friend from college who was well known as a good martial artist. He needed some serious back up to make sure he didn’t end up in a worse position than ever before.

Scared to leave Takahashi even on the video it took sometime for him to get out of the door, when he finally did it was to try and get the helping hand. Saito was the choice to hand, Saito was more of a held-back aggressive force that Hanatou knew wouldn’t mind breaking a few noses over if he could convince him to come along.

The problem Hanatou had was that he wasn’t sure he would want to help him, if he mentioned his partner was a man. He walked over and dragged his friend to one side of the corridors, leaning against the lockers he told him the truth, Saito listened for sometime seemingly taking in far too many revelations in one go. He’d known Hanatou for a few years, they were from the same high school and finally when it was done he looked at the medical student with a blank face.

“Anyone in there?” Hanatou cocked his head, looking at him.

“I just,” Saito looked at him, “you are banging Takahashi?”

“I just explained that, I am not banging him… I am not banging anyone.” Hanatou rolled his eyes. “Not yet.” He smirked after another period of silence.

“Well either way I’ll help you just promise not to send pictures of his naked bits, that last girlfriend was a great addition to my wall but I don’t need it.” Saito snorted and leant into his locker and grabbed his bag. “Right then, lead on.”

“Thank you,” Hanatou’s soft chocolate-brown eyes met his sincerely, “I really do need you.”

“Quit with that soft ass shit.” Saito laughed and headed out of the school with him. “And we’ll take my car, it’s only one stop along and that place you mentioned is a fair old drive.”

“I think Kaitai will be happier with it, she will need us to take some of her high-tech toys along.”

“Now get me a date with her and we’re even.” Saito smirked as the two men boarded the train.